Holiday Home Showcase Christmas Tour

Welcome to the Holiday Home Showcase hosted by my dear friend, Kelley of Kellynan.com! If you are coming over from Kelley’s amazing home tour (she’s such an incredible talent, isn’t she?!) I am so happy to have you join me today and I hope that you will kick back and stay a while!! At the end of my tour I will be sending you on to the next stop in the tour and I hope you will continue on through the loop so that you don’t miss any of the holiday inspiration from some of the most talented bloggers (and dear friends) I know!!

I recently also participated in the Styled + Set Holiday Entertaining Tour (Christmas Edition) that you can view HERE if you haven’t yet had a chance. I shared my Christmas table in that tour but I am eager to be sharing the rest of my dining room with you today as part of my tour. I will also be sharing our living room and our casual dining space in the kitchen for the remainder of the tour.

If there is one thing I remember growing up it’s that my mom loved Christmas and loved Christmas decorating and entertaining. She always included me (and enlisted my help) in decorating our home to get ready for this special holiday and, especially for the big Christmas bash my parents had every year for clients and friends! It was a fun time for all and something I will never forget. My mom always made such a big deal of the holiday and wanted everyone to feel special not only through gift giving and holiday baking, but through making our home feel like a Christmas wonder land, which has always been something that has inspired me to do the same in my own home with my own family. We start gearing up for Christmas with my birthday usually around the first weekend of December by heading out to a tree farm to cut down our own tree, well that was until we moved to the desert and now we have an artificial tree, which I’m actually starting to love by the way!

Speaking of my mom, to start today I want to share some of the special ornaments she has given me over the years since I am showcasing our family tree in the dining room first on the tour. This tree is special in that all of my son’s ornaments along with ornaments that were gifts from her, my sis-in-law, friends and others adorn this tree. It’s not super fancy but it’s special for that reason and we love it. Each year I like to add at least one or two new things to this tree with my son’s input and this year we decided on these plaid ornaments (which have quickly become a family favorite!), which set the stage for our Christmas decor in here this year.

Here are just a few of the special ornaments I mentioned above that we’ve received as gifts from those special people in our lives over the years…

We have always had a real tree so when we moved to the desert we had to get an artificial tree since the climate is so dry here. I have to say I wasn’t super happy about it but once we got one and were no longer having to deal with the maintenance of a real tree, I was definitely sold and hooked! I’m sure once we move back to a more humid climate we’ll have a real tree again but for now this one will certainly do! Our tree in here is a slim, 9ft. Windsor Fir with 800 clear lights and it has served it’s purpose well for our family tree! Enjoy!!

I also had a blast decking out the rest of the room! I carried my plaid theme to the opposite side of the room and found these perfect buffalo check pillows to adorn the chairs that flank the floor mirror. I also added this box wood garland to the mirror to dress it up a bit along with a pinecone wreath I already had and, I found some black and red plaid ribbon to add a bow to my wreath to keep things flowing with my plaid.

Another favorite thing I added was this buffalo check throw over the back of the chair! I found it at HomeGoods recently but sourced one here and here if you’re interested. It really helped to give our table a festive feel!

Shop this Room

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I also gave our bar cabinet area a few updates with some delicious treats and some fun reindeer.

Now I hope you’ll join me as we leave the dining room and head into the living room. We added these barn doors earlier this year to close off this space (you can read all about that HERE in our barn door story) and as soon as I started thinking about decorating this year I knew each door would have to be adorned with a fun wreath. I chose these and couldn’t be happier with the result. I also used the same red and black plaid ribbon I used on my wreath in the dining room to bring some flow to my design from the other space.

In the living room of course to start I turned my attention to the tree and ornaments. Last year I used a mix of gold, silver, white and gray ornaments (which you can see more of HERE). This year however I decided to go all gold and glam with a hint of sparkle. I loaded up on these ornaments when they were 30% off with free shipping and I love how the look came together with the ornaments and some sheer gold ribbon.

A couple of other favorites and items that inspired my white and gold tree were these champagne gold eucalyptus sprays. I used them throughout my tree and then took them all of the way up to make a tree topper out of them. It was super easy and I’m please with the end result! I also found these gorgeous gold flower stems at Michael’s that I couldn’t resist. Last year I had white pointsettieas on my tree (which will be used on one more tree I’ll be sharing next week in my bedroom) so I needed to replace them with something and these fit the bill perfectly (similar here).

I call the tree in our living room, mama’s tree since our family tree is in the dining room and I just kind of get to do whatever I want with this one! This tree is a 9ft. flocked pre-lit tree, and it’s a slim which I love to save on space. Even though I have plenty of space in this spot I like a slim tree simply for it’s appealing look.

Before I get to the tree though, I want to share some of my gift wrap ideas with you this year. I decided to adorn most of my packages and most areas I’ve decorated this year with natural elements using sprigs of juniper and fur. We love the smell and the warmth of bringing nature inside for Christmas and love the personal touch it puts on our packages.

I wanted to do more of a modern gift wrap so I used some black velvet ribbon and tied it around my packages with a simple knot and then added my sprig. So easy and fresh! I love it!! I used a variety of boxes from different places but some of my favorites are THESE from Target.

Now here’s that white and gold tree that I’m sure you came here mostly to see. I also used this fur tree skirt this year that my sweet mom purchased for me recently on a shopping trip we took together for my birthday (anybody else just want home decor items for their birthday, lol?!).

Shop my Tree

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Stay tuned because I have some night shots (actually dusk shots) for you at the end of my post of our tree!

Next up is the living area. Of course I changed out pillows, restyled the coffee table and added some Christmas cheer to our book shelves so I hope you will just sit back and enjoy the views. I also added a real fir wreath to the fireplace for the first time and we are loving it. I used this gold ribbon from Target to add a simple gold bow that would pick up on all of the gold in the Christmas tree this year.

Additionally, I used more of these favorite gift boxes over by the fireplace on my favorite stools to add a bit of Christmas to this area as well.

For pillows I used what I had on hand with the exception of one addition. I added this velvet pillow to pair with my gray buffalo check pillow which goes along with my theme of using touches of plaid here and their in my Christmas decor this year.

Another favorite in our home this year are these stockings! We don’t have a mantle on our fireplace so I’m always getting creative every year about where to hang them. You can see where I hung our stockings last year HERE but this year I was craving a no-fuss/less is more look so they found their spot on our little tree coat rack that rarely gets used anyway…I think it was happy to finally have a job:). It was also nice to pull out my fur trimmed cable knit pillow in white, which is always a perfect piece this time of year! It was a HomeGoods find last year but I’ve sourced similar pillows here and here since I commonly get asked about this cozy cutie!

This year I also added what I know will be a new staple in my decor in this pom pom throw. It blends perfectly with my faux fur throw and I just don’t think you can ever have enough cozy blankets to curl up by the fire with in the winter time!!

Once the Christmas tree went up our wing back chair had to be moved so actually what went was my husband’s chair and we moved the wing back into it’s place. I think I like it better here than his chair (shhh…his may not come back if I have anything to do with it, lol!). But this chair is actually a little too narrow for his broad shoulders so we’ll just have to see what happens after Christmas. He’s being such a good sport about it though just to make me happy since I like it better here…thank God for sweet husbands that put up with silly home decor shenanigans, right?!

And last but not least, I saved the best room for last and what I call the heart of our home! If you have followed me for any length of time you’ve seen this spot and it’s absolutely so much fun to dress up or down for the different holidays and seasons! We moved the round gold mirror over here a few months ago (you can see when it used to be in our living room HERE) and it really sets the stage for anything I want to do in here. I removed the lamps that are commonly here and used my moss topiaries in their place, added in some greenery and candles and a footed bowl filled with ornaments for a simple Christmas display. I also moved my floating fur stools to this spot to change things up a bit!

TIP TIME: This year as you know by now I used real juniper and fur greenery all over my home and, I did it for FREE, yes, free!! And here’s how…Home Depot and Lowe’s literally give away the left over clippings from the real Christmas trees they sell. They usually have it in a big bin next to where they put the trees through the net for travel. For the last two years in a row I’ve been able to get fresh greens and have placed them all over my home. The smell is amazing and they bring so much life to our home during this special time of year!

And, on top of getting enough greenery to decorate my packages, coffee table and book shelf, I was able to have enough to dress my console table, make a few different {simple} arrangements around the house and adorn my chandelier.

TIP TIME: The best way to keep fresh greenery looking good for as long as possible is to spray it with fresh water every day. I spray mine twice per day (AM & PM) with a simple spray bottle and can usually keep it looking good for at least two weeks.

Lastly, I love candle light and I especially love it when it involves Christmas decor. As I was shooting for this home tour I basically ran out of day light but got some shots as the sun was going down and had to share! I hope you enjoy them and stay tuned at the bottom of this post for some direction on where to go from here for the next gal in our Holiday Home Showcase loop!

There is nothing prettier than a Christmas tree all lit up at night, don’t you agree!?!

I hope you enjoyed the tour and I also hope that in all of the decorating, gift buying, and craziness of the season, we all remember the true reason for the season in Jesus!! Next up on the tour you will be heading to the beautiful blog of my dear friend Shauna of The House of Silver Lining and let me just tell you that you will have to pinch yourself after leaving there from all of the gorgeousness!! Just click this lovely image below to start Shauna’s home tour…

Comments

Bree! Can I just pack my suitcase and spend Christmas in your home?!! So very beautiful…every single detail! As always your photos are spectacular! I’ll be revisiting your tour over and over again. Merry Christmas my dear!
xoxo

Shauna, I hope you know you are welcome at my home ANY time!!! Thank you for your sweet words and now I’m off to visit all of you and your beautiful blogs!! Merry Christmas!!! Love you dear friend:) Xoxo

Bree everything is so beautiful!!! I love the red and gray in your family room and kitchen. And your family tree is amazing! I hope you and your family have a fabulous Christmas! You are such a dear friend! Xo

Bree I love your home so much and you’ve decorated perfectly for Christmas! I love all of the reds throughout, and although I’m having a tough time choosing, I think I love your kitten table the most with that stunning greenery in the chandelier – I especially love the view of your home from that space! And you’re a girl after my own heart with all the gold and metallics on your main tree! Fabulous, as always! Merry Christmas my dear friend! xoxo

Tam! You are so kind and generous with your sweet words!! I aways appreciate you stopping in and I hope you know I feel the same about you. I’m glad you like my candy and the gold tree! Had to go gold this year for sure!!! Doing silver in my bedroom next week:) Love you my friend and I can’t wait to do this again with you soon!! Xoxo

Wow Bree!!! Such a beautiful tour! I love that you shared those precious sentimental ornaments you received as gifts. They make the dining room try even more special! And the gold in the living room speaks straight to me heart! Love it and you!

Bree you had me at the pom pom throw! Seriously, I love all of your throws, pillows, and accessories – you are amazing at mixing and matching colors and patterns no matter what the season! I loved touring through your home so much and hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Bree, I so wish I was there in person to enjoy your gorgeous home. I love your special tree and amen for sweet, understanding hubbies! I still can’t get over that cranberry and your gifts are inspired. Every detail is!!

Kel, what can I even say!?! Thank you so much for having me on this amazing tour with you. I love you to pieces and appreciate your friendship more than you know my talented friend!! Merry Christmas and I can’t wait already to do this again next year!! Xoxo

Bree, I love all of your pillows! Thevchecked are so cute and I love all the plaid in your room. The Claret pillows are divine and I’m swooning over your gold tree! Such a beautiful tour friend! Merry Christmas!

To my “Sweet Home Alabama” friend…You are an absolute wonder! I love how you wove special tips throughout your fabulous tour. Your special homage to your sweet son and mama is so special. Plus, your home is gorgeous! Merry Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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[…] can sign up for my emails at the bottom of the post ? Next up in the tour is my friend Bree at Z Design at Home. The cranberry accents in her living room are brilliant and I’m already wondering how/where […]

[…] week where I used lots of natural fir and juniper in my holiday decor this year you can see that HERE. I also shared some great tips in that post on how to acquire free garland clippings (yes free) […]

[…] Simple black velvet ribbon was tied around the necks of my little white reindeer. I also used the same ribbon on some of my holiday gift wrap this year that you can see more of in my Holiday Home Showcase Tour found HERE. […]